Virtual reality gaming for treadmill training: improving functional ambulation in children with cerebral palsy

The purpose of this article is to describe a project where we designed and implemented a virtual reality (VR) game to engage children with cerebral palsy (CP) during treadmill training. For children with CP, the acquisition, refinement and retention of ambulatory skills remains a primary focus of physical therapy programs. The use of the treadmill has been shown to be feasible for these children making an impact on the spatiotemporal parameters of gait after 9 hours of training. To get the children to train for 9 hours, play was suggested as a way to keep them engaged. VR had the potential to provide play in practice on the treadmill. Preliminary results of this project show that all the subjects accepted and enjoyed the VR game, completed the 9 hours of training, and made changes in the function of ambulation.